Worth Watching: All in the Family With ‘This Is Us,’ Premieres of ‘Miracle Workers’ and ‘Boomerang’
A selective critical checklist of notable Tuesday TV:
This Is Us (9/8, NBC): An Emmy-worthy guest performance by Griffin Dunne, as the broken adult version of the Pearsons’ long-thought-dead Uncle Nicky, distinguishes another emotionally powerful episode of the hit drama. Kevin (Justin Hartley) isn’t about to give up on his troubled uncle, and when his mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore) shows up as well to learn more about Nicky’s relationship with her late husband, the stage is set for some long-simmering confrontations. “You’re out of your depths, kid,” Nicky warns Kevin — but this guy has been out of the family loop too long. He has no idea how deep the feels go among these people. Moving flashbacks, courtesy of a road-trip detour for Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kate (Chrissy Metz), take us back to the aftermath of Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) 1992 visit with his brother (Michael Angarano) — when TV’s Best Dad Ever tried to keep his trauma hidden from his kids. And we can now add “sequin fight” and “Pearson pizza” to the family’s lore.
Miracle Workers (10:30/9:30c, TBS): Oh God! A whimsical new comedy takes us to celestial heights to introduce a deity down in the depths: Steve Buscemi as a burned-out hippie of a God (in sandals and socks) who’s so disgusted with his creation that he decides to blow the whole thing to Kingdom Come — unless two low-level overworked angels (a charming Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan) can save the planet. Their task: to make two humans down on Earth fall in love within two weeks. Easier than it sounds.
Boomerang (10/9c, BET): This network is in serious nostalgia mode. I get the impulse to tell the backstage story of Soul Train in the entertaining new drama American Soul (9/8c), but am less convinced of the merits of this sequel-of-sorts to the 1992 movie about African-American ad execs. Lacking the star power of Eddie Murphy and Halle Berry, this banal dramedy follows the fortunes of their spoiled offspring, a group of millennial buppies who aren’t as interesting as they think they are.
Inside Tuesday TV: Rescheduled because of last week’s delayed State of the Union speech, a new episode of CBS hit NCIS (8/7c) includes a callout to beloved ex-team member Ziva, when one of her old missing-persons cases is reopened… Star Trek: The Next Generation’s LeVar Barton guests on CBS’s NCIS: New Orleans (10/9c) as Nero — not the captain, but an official with Naval Intelligence — helped the team track down a stolen deadly virus… Collaborating with The Wall Street Journal, PBS’s Frontline airs the troubling report Predator on the Reservation (10/9c, check local listings at pbs.org), an investigation of the Indian Health Service, which reportedly ignored warnings about a government pediatrician accused of sexually abusing Native American boys on a Montana Blackfeet Reservation… Denise Richards, aka a survivor of Charlie Sheen, joins the cast of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (9/8c) in its ninth-season premiere.
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Kinda confused about Matt's feelings on the Boomerang sequel series lol looks like he's not impressed so why is it worth watching? Lol
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Yeah, I don't think the title's as apt as the "notable Tuesday TV" reference in the first line each column.
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BET has fallen so hard from grace that it's embarrassing. Why watch that when we got Tv one or BET HER (formerly Centric), Bounce, Aspire etc. for quality afro centric entertainment. And can anybody tell me, is This is Us this decade's Thirtysomething? Because if it is then I suspect it'll hold up as much as that one did
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I've never seen Thirtysomething, so I can't compare them. In fact, I can't think of another drama about ordinary people that I've ever watched before.
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Never seen it either. One of those shows i always heard about that was popular in its time
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How do you describe "ordinary people"? Most shows seem to be about ordinary people.
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Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, Timothy Hutton... : ^)
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People who aren't all doctors, lawyers, cops, or have special powers. I've watched a lot of sitcoms about ordinary people, but I can't think of any dramas.
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Just ordinary people living their ordinary lives? Those are the kind of shows generally refered to as soap operas.
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And that's exactly what I called This Is Us and A Million Little Things last week. I don't remember watching shows like that before.
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ABC's Brothers and Sisters (I loved this one) and NBC's Parenthood were kind of about ordinary families and situations. There have been some others in the past but not that common especially these days.
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Did you ever watch ABC's Brothers and Sisters? I loved that one.
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Normally, I love, love, love Sally Field and wanted to like that show, but I hated, hated, hated the character she played in it.....the meddlesome b*tch who tried to control her children's lives. She reminded me too much of my own mother who was just like that.
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My mom used to be like that, now she is more chilled. My grandmother (her mom) was always so generous and easy to deal with. She passed around 10 years ago, miss her dearly.
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No, I'm not really one much for the soap-opera type of drama. Years and years ago I did watch a show called Sisters (with your friend, Sela Wadr). It was okay, but even as I watched I knew it was cheesy melodrama.
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My mom loved Sisters, I never watched it. But always would peek at Sela Ward. So so pretty. Even now. FBI was very riveting this week and the previews for next week look equally as good.
I just finished watching The Thin Man again on TCM -Free On Demand. I want to watch the sequels again , but they cost money. I'll check You Tube like I did for the Topper sequels. I can't get enough of these classics!
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This week's Finding Your Roots (PBS) is about some current and past presidential candidates. And, since there's no Leah Remini Scientology show this week, I guess I'll watch FBI. I've been seeing lots of promos for Miracle Workers, too, so I might check that out.
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Warning: Miracle Workers is a comedy! It might make you laugh!
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CBS has been promoting FBI very heavily despite not having aired a new episode in a few weeks. The previews for tonight's episode look terrific.
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I DO plan on checking Miracle Workers out...although I'm a little leery of a show that Matt would decide to describe as..."whimsical"...
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A term I've always reserved for Dr. Seuss books! 😉
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I'm really hoping it does. :-p
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Now that I've learned a bit more about the book this show is based on, I'm wondering if I read that book. I did read a book about some angels who had to make two people fall in love. I don't think the book I read was "all that." One thing I do remember from it that I thought was intriguing was the idea that our dreams are actually the result of angels trying to influence us in one way or another.
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Busy Tuesday again: The Housewife, The Kids, This Is US, New Amsterdam, The Flash, Roswell, Miracle Workers, and The Gifted!
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I really enjoyed The Passage last night. It's extremely complex and can see why it needs a lot of episodes to cover all of the plots.
Only one more episode of Manifest left, and more questions.
The flight # 828 corresponding with the time the truck was underwater ( I think that was it) reminded me of LOST.
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And what happened to the Major this week? They keep introducing stuff then not following through with it.
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Exactly, and the finale is next week!!! The pilot, the Major and a bunch of other forgotten stuff.
NBC will likely renew Manifest, but I think they will move it to Friday.
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Looks like the writers are abandoning plot points that didn't work. For weeks all we heard about was the mysterious Major. So we got 2 boring scenes with her. And of course the missing pilot is never mentioned. Also Ben's daughter is a wasted character. They don't know what to do with her.
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The Passage has been impressing me week after week. The acting, scripts, production values and plots are all compelling to me. Do you think FOX will renew this one. Ratings aren't very strong, but not a disaster either.
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I don't even try to guess with Fox. They renew shows I think have terrible ratings sometimes.
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I was going to mention the pilot too. That was such a big deal that you think they'd at least mention it if only to revise their expectations about when he might return now that they've found someone who returned in only one year instead of five.
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Every single new plot point is a big deal on Manifest until the next plot point occupies the episode. Remember the church plot and faux pastor (which I hated) last week? No mention of that this week. Hopefully they dump that storyline for good.
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If Manifest is renewed for a second season, I'll give it a few eps, if they don't start answering some questions I'll likely drop the show. Too frustrating.
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I didn't like the religious cult idea either, but once they introduced it, they should have done something with it besides just taking care of the one crazy lady.
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We've fallen behind on the new Roswell already; not sure we'll continue. I personally don't miss Flash or The Gifted, however. And Rookie is absurdly entertaining.
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